We Will Burn
by K.greeni
Summary: Protect the ones you love. At all cost. No matter what. Jacob's POV in Breaking Dawn if there had been a war with the Volturi. AN: Just an idea that's been stuck in my head for awhile. It may be rewritten, but for now it is remaining as a one-shot. :


**Ok, this is just a little something that struck me as I was writing an essay. It's nothing to go crazy over, in my opinion, but the idea nagged at me. It's more of a "what if?" to Breaking Dawn. What if a fight had broken out? It's written in Jacob's POV and it's pretty short considering what it _could _have been. **

**This definitely isn't something that the great Stephenie Meyer would write, but it's something. Some lines from the book may have been turned around, but other than that....**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight series. All Stephenie Meyer's doing. **

**Song(s): Black Table - Other Lives (Strong recommendation to listen to this while reading)**

**We Will Burn**

**Jacob's POV**

We watched from afar as they fought, hidden from view; the trees our only form of defense at the moment. I knew I should have been running– this was all for Nessie. My friends, my family— their strength weakening though their eyes were bright with hope— fighting. All for Nessie.

Protect the ones you love. At all cost. No matter what.

After our witnesses had given their thoughts and views, the Volturi didn't even consider. The three leaders, Aro, as I had caught one of their names, flicked up his wrist and all chaos broke loose. Their minds had been made before our witness was even given– they came to attack and covet.

I was faintly aware of Nessie's silent tears streaming down my back as she buried her face in my fur, her hands clutching at me with a fierce too strong for someone so young. "I want Momma and Daddy." She breathed out.

I raised my muzzle a bit, an odd huff escaping my mouth as I tried to comfort her and quiet her at the same time. I could not have the Volturi's attention on us right now. It had been luck so far that the Cullens, their witnesses, and the Pack had managed to keep the bloodthirsty vampires focused only on them.

My brain was telling me to run, to get Nessie out of here. _Save yourselves! _My mind screamed. But my paws stayed firmly on the ground. It felt wrong to leave my sister and brothers fighting alone.

__

Take her and run.

Bella's request sounded in my head, and yet, still, I could not move. I could not will my eyes to look away from the agonizing scene in front of me.

Emmett fought with some from the guard. Their muscle were no match to Emmett's, but he did not have a gift like them. I winced as he went down. I had taken down vampires before, but they were the bad ones I took down. Now, having formed some type of friendship with the Cullens, I saw them as something that resembled an invincible clan. Having one of their member's losing control seemed beyond wrong; disorienting.

"Emmett!" I heard Rosalie scream as the guard held Emmett's shoulders, making sure he stayed down on his knees.

I watched him struggle, his eyes wide with terror as he watched Rosalie snap an opposing witness's head, trying to make her way to him. "No, Rosalie! No! Stay away! Ros—" His yells were cut off by a loud screeching sound and Emmett screamed.

"Emmett!" Rosalie was screeching, pushing, running, sobbing tearless sobs. It was the first time I had ever seen some other emotion from Rosalie rather than her scornful looks at me. The sight was painful. For the first time, I saw her as someone other than "that Cullen." Her pain was much too close to mine.

"I love you, Rose." Emmett whispered. And then the members from the guard surrounded him, a muffled cry followed by a sound of screeching metal and licking flames the only noise from the center of their huddle.

A few of the Volturi's witnesses had stopped Rosalie. She was on the ground, sobbing, cursing. She fought with everything she had, still screaming Emmett's name over and over.

A searing pain shot through me and I bit back a howl. My head whipped side to side, furiously. Nessie's head rose and fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. She pressed her hand to my cheek. An image of her asking me if I was ok floated through my head. I whimpered and swayed a bit, knowing already why my body had reacted the way it had.

A member of the pack was hurt.

My eyes zoomed in on the fight, trying to find the reason of attack. I growled as I took in a brown pile of fur on the ground, the body twitching before finally it stilled. Embry. Though I was not a part of _that _pack anymore, I still had once been. And we were still much linked even if not by being able to read each other's thoughts. I wanted to howl, to join the fight and tear the enemy to shreds.

An image of Bella's pleading eyes, Edward's tortured glance– images being exchanged to me by Renesmee. It was her silent plea for me to stay in control and she cried harder. "It hurts. My family–"

I huffed again, trying to quiet her. It pained me that I couldn't comfort her properly, that she was physically aching.

A hiss passed through the trees and we became very still. I looked out and saw that one of the Volturi members were sniffling towards the forest, in our direction. I saw Edward turn away from his opponent and his eyes widened when he spotted me through the trees. He saw the member very close to discovering us and quickly disfigured the one he was fighting against, turning to distract the vampire.

They fought and Nessie whimpered.

Bella screamed as she fought to hold her invisible shield. Already bodies were falling, figures scattering across the field– wolf and vampire. Because of some of the Cullen members being disfigured, it seemed as if our side was losing. But, when I counted the numbers on each side, I realized that the _Volturi _was losing. Our loss was more significant, however.

Of course it was. I could care less about the Volturi. They could burn in Hell. I wanted to shred them for all the destruction they were causing.

Edward turned back to the forest and hissed at me. _Go. _His blazing eyes glared at me.

"Daddy." Nessie whimpered and Edward's face fell a bit when he saw the agonizing expression on his daughter's face.

"No!" He suddenly yelled and ran to attack another vampire that had seen us. The vampire knocked Edward down, his red eyes focused on Nessie with a wicked gleam. "Run! Get the Hell away and RUN!" Edward yelled from the ground.

Esme screamed somewhere, shrill and piercing. I watched as Carlisle went to Edward's defense, the other vampire wild and crazed in his bloodlust as he tried to get through the forest to us. _Why couldn't I move? I should've left when I was supposed to._

Bella broke her stance and attacked the vampire, hissing through her teeth as she crouched. Together, she and Edward, and Carlisle circled the vampire, hissing, growling. More of our side was fighting against the Volturi. The only enemies remaining being Jane, Alec, Aro and his two followers, a big burly one called Felix, and a few of the guard.

Five from the pack were down and more of our witnesses, but still, we remained higher in numbers. We were winning and, I could tell from the slight fear in Aro's eyes, he knew it too. I heard Leah whimper and another stab of pain shot through my body. It took everything in me to not howl out; I had been struck more than once tonight. Seth howled aloud, running to his sister.

Because they were considered to be in my pack, I heard every thought.

__

Leah!

Her voice was exhausted, even in her mind. _Seth_.

Seth had large tears escaping his wolf eyes. _Come on, Leah, you can do this. _He looked at the deep gash in her skin, venom pulled the outside of the wound, and he whimpered. _Come_ on_, Leah._

Already the venom was taking its toll and I could hear Leah's thoughts becoming jumbled, unfocused. _Good run tonight, huh, Seth? _She mentally chuckled_. I saw you take down quite a few leeches. _

_Get up, Leah._ Seth's voice was bordering desperation_._ _We gotta go home and take care of Mom after. _

_After_. Leah scoffed, amused, and then she became serious. _You take care of Mom, Seth_.

_Leah— _

_Shut up. I'm serious_. Her breathing became labored as Seth tried propping her up on his side.

_Leah! _Jacob_, do something_!

I flinched. They knew the whole time I had been here. We were linked, how could they not? But his plea was helpless and he knew it. If I exposed Ness and I, we would die, and this war would have been for nothing. Seth knew this, but he still pleaded. I didn't speak to him. I couldn't. Inside, I was screaming profanities, sobbing in frustration.

Leah's heartbeat slowly thudded. _Love you, bro_. She whimpered once and then she was gone.

Seth's tail whipped dangerously as he stood still, his face one of shock. And then he rose and howled, the pain evident.

_I'm sorry. _I whimpered, hating how weak I sounded. I was the Alpha of the pack and here I was hidden.

_For Nessie_. Seth was poking his nose to his sister's neck. _We do what we have to, to protect the imprinted_.

_I'm sorry_. I repeated, my tail swishing.

Seth looked up and his expression was such that I staggered under the pain shown._ I know_. Was all he thought and went back to nursing his dead sister.

My eyes swept over the field once more, watching as the Volturi fell. Their deaths did not seem to be enough for the suffering we were being tortured with. Nessie's grip was forceful on my fur as she shared her thoughts with me.

__

All my fault.

All of it.

Her breathing quickened and she tried remembering happier days, something to distract her. The images flowed through us as she thought.

_Mommy, Daddy, Jacob, and I all hunting._

_Jacob throwing me up in the air._

_Mommy brushing my hair._

_Rose and Alice dressing me._

_Jasper reading to me._

_Charlie and the Christmas tree._

_Emmett-_

She choked and the image of Emmett screaming for Rosalie to stay back hit us both with a force so strong.

_All my fault._

Nessie's cries were gut-wrenching sobs, quiet as her body trembled against mine_._ "No more, Jacob. No more."

And, then, I did run.

OoOoO

"We were too late." Alice's whisper was low, a sudden sound to the long-time quiet. "How could that _be?" _

Jasper wrapped his arm around his wife though his own eyes were mystified.

In the corner of the room, Esme's puckered face was against Carlisle's chest. Edward held Bella tightly in his arms as she held Renesmee. I was back in human form and my face was buried in my hands.

We were on Isle Esme, in a nice little home surrounded by bright waters and a shining sun. The promising sky did nothing for the depressed atmosphere. I was the only one of either packs to be here, the others staying to be with parents of those lost and to set up burials. I had made the trip all the way here with Nessie. I did not turn back once, her safety the only thing mattering to me. As soon as we had reached the end of Bella's directions, I transformed back to human form and waited.

I didn't know what exactly to wait for, but I certainly hoped for the Cullen's to return. As soon as Edward walked through the door, I knew things were better than what I had imagined. After all, Edward would not be alive if Bella had died during the fight. Two Cullens alive. Then, when Carlisle and Esme followed in after them... Four Cullens. And then Alice and Jasper. That had surprised me.

But, not as much as Alice's wails soon after had. During her anger of not _seeing _things properly, she had destroyed much of the downstairs. Jasper had explained their reasoning for leaving: to find certain witnesses that were like Nessie. Before they got what they needed, Alice had a vision of the war passing on the field and she and Jasper did a quick turn around. I had expected anger to pass through all of us as we listened, but there wasn't. Too much had happened to feel the need for another fight.

The agony was visible Alice's and Jasper's eyes as they listened of the two Cullen's deaths. We all grieved the loss of Emmett and Rosalie as well as others who had fought to protect. The surviving witnesses had returned to their homes, having no reason to stay seeing as there was no celebration to be creating. Even with our win, it seemed like a fail.

"No more Volturi." Bella whispered, her wide eyes on Edward's face.

"What do we do now?" Carlisle whispered aloud, more to himself than to the others. "Where do we go from here? The vampire world has changed already, but this change may be threatening."

"Who will rule now?" I wondered. I didn't really care, but the sudden curiosity got to me.

All the Cullens looked at me with surprised expressions. "What do you see, Alice?" Carlisle asked.

"No one has made a decision yet. Until one has been made, the vampires of the world roam free. There will be much terror, Carlisle, if we allow it to go on as such." Alice's eyes were worried and her small figure tense. "Though the Volturi were not justified in their ruling, their rules are what kept vampires from destroying and exposing."

Carlisle nodded and then Edward spoke up. "I most likely see Vladimir and Steffan taking over. It's the whole reason for their participation, is it not?"

Alice sighed. "But, still, the decision has not been made. I think they fear the throne now. They ruled much like the Volturi only in smaller numbers. With the Volturi defeated because of their unethical ways..." She let her voice trail off.

"We must make sure things stay in control until the decision is made." Esme whispered, forcefully.

I faintly wondered why the Cullens just didn't take the Volturi's place. Perhaps the vampire world could use better role models as their guide.

A corner of Edward's mouth went up. "We do not wish to rule the vampire world, Jacob. We only wish for peace." He shot me an amusing look. "Though I do appreciate the role model remark."

I found it baffling that even during these hard times, I found my lips tugging up the corners as well. Even with the grief, we all needed to think ahead as Alice had to do every second. There would be brighter days, happier times. They may not arrive for a long while, but they would arrive. The room seemed to relax at once, new found hope in our task

"So we wait." Bella concluded, clutching Renesmee closer to her chest.

"We wait." Edward agreed, and lightly kissed the top of Bella's head.

And, so, we waited.

**As I said, short. But, for me at least, it felt right. Now, I could write this is so many different ways. They're all tempting, but I have another story to focus on. So... yeah. Heehee.**

**Tell me what you thought. I'm all ears... eyes actually, but you get the point. :) **


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